We finally made it to the Dry Tortugas!

[Tom J]

We actually saw a few strings of traps as far out as ... I'm guessing here ... thirty miles? in eighty-ish feet of water.

Fortunately, they pose very little threat to our swing keel, and we have a kickup rudder. We ran at least three of them slap over in the darkness on the return trip. You could hear them going bump-bump-bump-bump-bump all the way down the length of the hull, before popping up in the wash of the stern light.

Motoring at night was simply out of the question. We decided ahead of time, if the wind died out in middle of that mess, we would simply anchor wherever we were and wait for daylight or wind, whichever came first.

It always amazed me that so many crab pots were placed right on the magenta line from Marathon to Naples. Even out of season abandoned crab pots were everywhere.
On the commercial vessel I worked on, we stayed on the line from Marathon to Naples, and literally cut a swath through the pots. Once, we had an engine out, and dragged about 13 pots into port with us.

 

[Michael Davis]

It always amazed me that so many crab pots were placed right on the magenta line from Marathon to Naples.

You mean that line doesn't mean "put pots here"?

 

[Gene Neill]

Just so all y'all yankees know ... they ain't called "pots" here. They're TRAPS.

"Pot" is an archaic word which means something else entirely.

 

[jon hansen]

side note: what's the difference between a yankee and a damm yankee?
a yankee is a northerner that visits the south then goes home. a damm yankee is a northerner that goes south and stays.
Gene, your video was wonderful. thanks for sharing

i'm a yankee yawl

 

[Hardhead]

We carried twelve gallons of fuel, double the norm. Extra jugs of ice (which equals extra gallons of fresh water), extra food, extra clothing, extra flares.

That's a great idea with the ice -- extra cooling power the 1st part of the trip, and extra cold water the 2nd. I'll have to remember that one this summer.